Red Bluff Daily News

July 12, 2011

Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/36313

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 8 of 15

11-year-olds headed for Yuba CitySports 1B Tuesday MLB — All-Star Game, 5 p.m., FOX Tour de France — Stage 10, 5 a.m., VERSUS Tuesday July 12, 2011 Courtesy photo The Red Bluff 11-year-old Little League baseball All-Star team celebrates their District 1 championship with their supporters, Friday night. After Stacy was hit by a pitch, Ian LITTLE LEAGUE Next up: Yuba City. Red Bluff ’s 11-year-old Little League All-Star team captured the District 1 baseball championship, Friday, earning them a spot in the Section 2 tournament in Yuba City. Red Bluff earned the trip with an undefeated run through District 1, including an 11-4 win over East Red- ding in the championship game. Red Bluff made a habit of jumping on their opponents early as they did again in the championship with three runs in the first inning. Drew Stacy led off with a bunt sin- gle, then stole second base. He scored on a Justin Nicholls sin- gle. Ian Hoskins then drew a walk. Nicholls scored on a Casey Moore base hit. Skejgstad singled to plate Hoskins for the third run of the inning. Things were quiet until the fourth inning when East Redding put togeth- er a rally of their own in the top half of the frame, topped off by a grand slam from their number eight hitter. Trailing for the first time in the tournament, 4-3, the Red Bluff All- Stars answered with eight runs in the bottom half of the inning. Red Bluff sent twelve batters to and current TV football analyst Jon Gruden, who also spent last weekend at the Manning’s camp at Nicholls State, said Luck is the best NFL quarter- back prospect he has studied, but understood why Luck chose to play one more year at a Stan- ford program he’d led back to national promi- nence. ‘‘He’s going to really MCT file photo Andrew Luck is ready to lead the Stanford Cardinal in 2011. THIBODAUX, La. (AP) — Andrew Luck still has no regrets. ‘‘I was happy with my decision,’’ Luck said, reflecting on his announcement last win- ter that he would delay his NFL career and play one more season at Stan- ford. ‘‘I’m still happy.’’ Luck has had several months to let the conse- quences of his choice sink in — to think about the millions of dollars he could have earned this year, to wonder whether he should have taken Stanford’s head coach- ing change as a sign that he, too, should move on, and to consider whether the possibility of injury presented undue risks to his earning potential. Those questions still come up regularly from people Luck meets, and he smiles patiently before answering with a calm sense of certitude. ‘‘I’m obviously aware of it, but hopefully I can be successful, monetari- ly, playing football regardless,’’ Luck said while working as a coun- selor at the Manning Passing Academy in south Louisiana during the past weekend. ‘‘I don’t think my lifestyle will require whatever amount of money, not to say that wouldn’t be good to have. I think we all know that.’’ This year was Luck’s second-straight at the Manning camp, where he has gotten to know Pey- ton Manning, a prime example of a current pro who chose to stay in school over entering the NFL draft early, and who went on to an extraordi- nary career with the Indianapolis Colts. ‘‘Every kid’s got to make their own decision, but I do tell kids that if you want to stay ... it’s OK to stay. I stayed,’’ Manning said. ‘‘So I was proud of Andrew for making that decision. ‘‘It’s great for college football,’’ Manning con- tinued. ‘‘It speaks a lot about his school, about his passion for college football. I hope he has a great year this year, stays healthy. When the time comes, he’ll be an excel- lent NFL quarterback for a long time.’’ Luck called Manning last winter before announcing that he’d remain in school, but noted that he had already made his decision and only wanted advice on how Manning handled his senior season at Ten- nessee. ‘‘He said it worked for him,’’ Luck recalled. ‘‘And I was happy with it myself. I don’t think I needed affirmation from anybody, but it’s always nice to see a man of his caliber go through maybe similar (circum- stances). ... It makes you feel a little better.’’ Luck technically has two years of eligibility left, but expects to grad- uate with a degree in architectural design next spring and is treating 2011 as his final college season. He said complet- ing his degree before turning pro is important to him. ‘‘I didn’t want have that looming, maybe in the future having to go back,’’ he said. As for the coaching change, Luck described a ‘‘smooth transition’’ in which the man who recruited him to Stan- ford, former offensive coordinator David Shaw, was elevated to the top job after Jim Harbaugh’s departure for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers. Shaw has retained the same terminology and the same pass-oriented West Coast scheme. Former NFL coach have an opportunity to pilot the Stanford Cardi- nal to potentially a BCS game again and a nation- al championship, and he’s the captain of that outfit, there’s no ques- tion about it,’’ Gruden said. ‘‘Those are experi- ences that ... you just can’t create very often.’’ Luck set school records for TD passes (32), completion per- centage (70.7 percent) and passing efficiency (170.2) last season, when the Cardinal won the Orange Bowl. Stan- ford finished fourth in the final AP poll, the school’s best ranking since the unbeaten 1940 team finished second. Luck was the runner- up in Heisman Trophy voting to Cam Newton last season and will be a favorite for the award in 2011. However, Luck said he won’t place much emphasis on indi- vidual awards, and noted that a number of new Heisman candidates are bound to emerge this season. Luck said he’ll focus on being the leader he’s expected to be by demanding hard work and accountability from both himself and his teammates, and he will try to keep the Cardinal focused on the task at avoid becoming distract- ed by the Bowl Champi- onship Series picture. ‘‘We avoid the nation- al championship talk,’’ Luck said. ‘‘For us, it’s the Pac 12 champi- onship. We figure if we can get there, we’ll keep our fingers crossed and everything will be taken care of and our goals can be reached.’’ the plate in the inning, with key hits coming from Colton Youngblood, Koleby Potter and a double by Con- ner McKenzie. Once the dust settled in the fourth, the score was in favor of Red Bluff 11-4. Hoskins pitched 5-and a-third innings allowing eight hits, striking out four and walking only one. Potter came in for the final two outs to end the game and give Red Bluff the championship. Luck looks toward season without regret Cano wins HR Derby PHOENIX (AP) — Robinson Cano outslugged Adrian Gonzalez to win the All-Star Home Run Derby that turned into a Yankees-Red Sox showdown, even through his Boston rival made the biggest splash at Chase Field. Batting last and being pitched to by his father, Cano defeated Gonzalez 12-11 in the finals Monday night after they each hit 20 home runs through two rounds. Again highlighting the dangers of trying to catch a ball at a big league ballpark, a fan standing on a table above the pool deck, Keith Carmickle of suburban Kingman, fell over try- ing to catch a Prince Fielder homer. The fan was grabbed by his brother before going all the way over, where he could have fallen about 20 feet, and was dangling by his feet when he was pulled back up. ‘‘I stepped up on the table, I missed the ball by 2 or 3 feet and went over,’’ he said. ‘‘We caught three balls and I told the guys I was going to go for the cycle. Dude, they were really holding onto me.’’ Last week, a 39-year-old fan, Shannon Stone, died while trying to catch a ball thrown into the stands at a Rangers game in Arlington, Texas. Carmickle’s brother grabbed his arms and Aaron Nelson of Chandler held his legs. ‘‘He wasn’t going down, I was holding on,’’ Nelson said. Carmickle said he wasn’t worried while he was dangling. ‘‘I bench-press 500 pounds and I wasn’t going down,’’ he said. Gonzalez hit a ball that wound up in the swimming pool in right field — along with Mike Moon, a 26-year-old fan who caught the ball before falling into the water, where he was surrounded by bikini-clad women. ‘‘I saw the ball, I didn’t want to spill my beer and I didn’t spill my beer,’’ he said. ‘‘I don’t really remember what hap- pened. I think I leaned forward, caught the ball, then fell like that (leaning backward). It was pretty cool.’’ Halladay and Weaver to start in All-Star game PHOENIX (AP) — Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay will start for the National League in Tuesday night’s All-Star game against the Los Angeles Angels’ Jered Weaver. The NL batting order has Milwaukee’s Rickie Weeks leading off and playing second base, followed by designated hitter Carlos Beltran of the Mets, Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp, Milwaukee first baseman Prince Fielder, Atlanta catcher Brian McCann, St. Louis right fielder Lance Berk- man, Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday, Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and Cincinnati third baseman Scott Rolen. The AL has Yankees center fielder Curtis Granderson leading off, followed by Cleveland shortstop Asdrubal Cabr- era, Boston first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, Toronto right fielder Jose Bautista, Texas left fielder Josh Hamilton, Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre, Boston designated hit- ter David Ortiz, Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano and Detroit catcher Alex Avila. Halladay, 11-3 with a 2.45 ERA, started the 2009 All-Star game while with the Toronto Blue Jays and will be the fourth pitcher to make an All-Star start for both leagues, following Vida Blue, Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson. Halladay is the first Philadelphia pitcher to start since Curt Schilling in 1999. Weaver, 11-4 with a 1.86 ERA, is the fifth Angels pitch- er to start, following Ken McBride (1963), Dean Chance (1964), Nolan Ryan (1979) and Mark Langston (1993). All-Star Game MLB Red Bluff 11-year-olds All-Star Game MLB

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Red Bluff Daily News - July 12, 2011